From the 'Well of the Retching Cure' to a commuter village on the M9 motorway

Archive for the ‘United States’ Category

Many Irish people who came to the U.S. ended up in poor houses, almshouses and asylums. Some, for a short time, until they had the well being, contacts and resources to survive. For others, they stayed there until they died. One entry in the registers for Westchester County (the county just above Bronx county, New York City) has information about a Mary O’Connor/Gorman who was born in Paulstown.[1]

If further outlines:

Name: Mary O’Connor or Gorman

Record Number: 3/1340

Date of Admission: 9 February 1880

Age: 60 / Single / Birthplace: Paulstown, Kilkenny, Ireland / How long in the US: 20 years / How long in the State: 20 years / At what port landed: N York / Birth Place of Father: Paulstown, Kilkenny, Ireland / Birthplace of Mother: Gordon (possibly the neighboring village of Gowran?), Kilkenny, Ireland / Education: None / Occupation of Father: Land Steward / Existing Cause of Dependence: Sickness and Destitution / What kind of labor is the person able to pursue, and to what extent: Light Housework / Has the person been an inmate of any other charitable institution: In Lunatic Asylum bd? 6 months.

A number of other questions are asked but answers are not provided.

[1] “New York Census of Inmates in Almshouse and Poorhouses 1830-1920”, database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 October 2011), entry for Mary O’Connor, 9 February 1880; citing: New York State Archives, Albany, New York; Census of Inmates in Almshouses and Poorhouses, 1875-1921; Series A1978, Reel A1978:88, Record Number: 3/1340

Michael Connors – 1864 From the townland of Paulstown, date of departure 1859, first location after arrival was Louisville, Kentucky. Patrick Connors, his brother, seeks information and can be reached at Gold Springs Post Office, Putnam County, New York. Date of advertisement 6 August 1864.

Patrick Phelan – 1877 Wanted, Mr. John Nash of Melbourne, formerly of Royal Oak, Co. Carlow, Ireland, who recently communicated with Mr. John Doyle of Balyealls, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland to be good enough to send his address to Patrick Phelan, formerly of Garryduff, parish of Paulstown, Co. Kilkenny, now of Heargraves, near Mudgee, New South Wales.[2]

Patrick Finlay – 1886 Patrick Finlay, White Hall, Paulstown, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. The last was heard of him thirty years ago eight miles outside of White Plains, NY. Wishes to be found by his sister, Bridget Burns, 168 Richard St, South Brooklyn.[3]

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One of the main ways that family and friends tried to find people who emigrated to the US or Australia was through ‘Information Wanted’ adverts in different newspapers. Word of mouth was the key with some reunited and others never to be found. Below is a selection of these adverts where Paulstown is mentioned. Some of the people placing adverts wrote that Paulstown was in county Carlow. Varying amounts of information are provided and all entries without a footnote are from the Boston Pilot newspaper.[1]

John Cooke – 1836 Of John Cooke, a native of Shanakil, county Kilkenny, Ireland. When last heard from he was in Boston, his father is now in New York, and is anxious to hear from him. Any information respecting him will be thankfully received, addresses to Lawrence Langton, No 232 Mulberry street, New York.[2]

Michael Dooley – 1850 From the townland of Paulstown, first location after arrival was Fall Springs, Massachusetts. John Dooley, his brother seeks information and can be reached at Michael Hughes, 47 Rensse (St?), Albany, NY. Date of advertisement 21 September 1850

Martin Stanton – 1851 From the towland of Paulstown, Co. Kilkenny, first location after arrival was ONT (Ontario?) in 1848. Last heard from in UCN in 1848. Information sought by Patrick Cane, a cousin, and can be reached at 85 So. 2nd St, New Bedford, MA. Date of advertisement 13 December 1851.

Garrett Healey – 1855 From the townland of Paulstown, Co. Carlow. Information sought by Pierce Healey, a brother. Can be reached at 2 Pleasant St. Court, Boston, MA. Date of advertisement 10 February 1855.

Catherine Doyle – 1856 From the townland of Paulstown or Garryduff, intended destination was New York City, arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Sailed on the Winchester, leaving Liverpool in January 1853. Margaret Doyle, her sister, seeks information and can be reached at Patrick O’Carroll, South Trenton, New Jersey. Date of advertisement 15 November 1856.

James Mahon – 1861 From the townland of Grange Lower near Paulstown, barony of Gowran, poor law of Kilkenny, county Kilkenny. Aged 24 and first location after arrival was Ohio. John Nowlan, a friend, seeks information and can be reached at S.Brookfield, MA. Date of advertisement 26 October 1861.

[1] “Information Wanted: A Database of Advertisements for Irish Immigrants Published in the Boston Pilot”, database, Bostoncollege.edu (http://infowanted.bc.edu: accessed 24 May 2011), entries for Paulstown location

[2] Murphy DeGrazia, Laura and Fitzpatrick Haberstroth, Diane. 2005. Voices of The Irish Immigrant: Information Wanted Ads in The Truth Teller New York City 1825-1844.New York: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, p.81.

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Included below is some genealogical information taken from two applications for U.S. passports where Paulstown is mentioned. The first is for John F. Martin whose father, Edward Martin, was born in Paulstown.[1] He applied on 9 May 1919. More documents were part of this application including an affidavit of identifying witness, a letter from the Knights of Columbus, an affidavit of birth and some letters from the War Department.

The second application came from Edward Vincent O’Rourke and was also made in 1919, on 3 October.[2] Edward’s father, William O’Rourke was born in Paulstown. This application also contained other documents. There was a letter from the Braden Copper company and an affidavit of birth where Anna O’Rourke is listed as Edward’s mother.

The italicized scrip shows where the applicant filled in information in his own handwriting. Text with a strikethrough was crossed out on the application.

John F. Martin

I John F. Martin a native and loyal citizen of the United States, hereby apply to the Dept. of State, at Washington, for a passport, accompanied by my wife.

I solemnly swear that I was born in De Pere in the state of Wisconsin, on or about the 15thday of March, 1868, that my father Edward Martin was born in Paulstown, Ireland and is now residing atdead, that he emigrated to the United States from the port of don’t know on or about 1848; that he resided 67 years uninterruptedly, in the United States from 1868 to 1915 at Utica NY for a few years and about 60 years at De Pere, Wn; that he was naturalized as a citizen of the United States before the Circuit Court at Brown County at Green Bay on Nov 4th 1856, as shown by the Certificate of Naturalization presented herewith; no certification on file only notation in record book

I am domiciled in the United States, my permanent residence being at Green Bay in the state of Wisconsin, where I follow the occupation of Lawyer; that I am about to go abroad temporarily; that I intend to return to the United States within 4 months with the purpose of residing and performing my duties of citizenship therein; and that I desire a passport for visiting the countries hereinafter names for the following purpose:

France Knights of Columbus War Relief Work

Great Britain En Route

I intend to leave the United States from the port of New York, NY sailing aboard the unknown. My last passport was obtained from I never had a passport

I Edward Vincent O’Rourke a native and loyal citizen of the United States, hereby apply to the Dept. of State, at Washington, for a passport.

I solemnly swear that I was born in Columbus in the state of Ohio, on or about the 5thday of September, 1895, that my father William O’Rourke was born in Paulstown, Co. Carlow, Ireland and is now residing atdead, that he emigrated to the United States from the port of Queenstown on or about 1882; that he resided 35 years uninterruptedly, in the United States from 1882 to 1917 at Columbus, Ohio; that he was naturalized as a citizen of the United States before the United States District Court at Ohio at Columbus on – 1 – , as shown by the Certificate of Naturalization presented herewith

I am domiciled in the United States, my permanent residence being at Columbus in the state of Ohio, where I follow the occupation of Engineer; that I am about to go abroad temporarily; that I intend to return to the United States within 3 years with the purpose of residing and performing my duties of citizenship therein; and that I desire a passport for visiting the countries hereinafter names for the following purpose:

Chile So. America Mining Engineering

I intend to leave the United States from the port of New York sailing aboard the -.

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Known as the “Old Man Registration”, these records come from the draft registration of older men that were collected for World War II.[1] All the men registered were born between 28 April 1877 and 16 February 1897 and were not already in the military. It was the fourth draft registration and was conducted on 27 April 1942. Two men, one from New Jersey and one from Massachusetts gave their place of birth as Paulstown. Records for eight states were destroyed and are incomplete for other states.

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During the American Civil War a group emerged in England that was sympathetic to the cause of the Southern Confederacy States. The Southern Independence Association was founded on 9 April 1864[1] and even went as far as trying to get a bill through the British Parliament that called for the British Government to intervene on behalf of the Confederacy.[2] A list of members was printed in the Manchester Guardian newspaper and reprinted in TheNew York Times in May 1864. Among the names are a number of the Irish based aristocracy, including a member of one of the main landed gentry families of Paulstown. The entry reads:

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Many parts of Ireland can lay claim to people who fought in World War I and World War II. Paulstown is no different. William Neary, born in Kilkenny City[1] in 1906[2], and who lived in Paulstown from a young age[3] until his emigration at the age of 22[4], fought in World War II with the U.S. Army.

Neary fought with the U.S. Army in the Pacific arena. Indeed he was captured by the Japanese and served as a Prisoner of War (PoW). Few U.S. soldiers managed to ever escape from the Japanese PoW camps, but along with two Mayo men, Neary did just that.[5] Having escaped he stayed in Asia and served with the army throughout the rest of the Pacific campaign.

Neary came to the U.S. in 1929, departing from Cobh on 24 March. He sailed on the Baltic and arriving in New York on 2 April.[6] His passenger list states that he was going to the U.S. permanently, like countless other Irish people. His ultimate destination was to a cousin, Patrick Walsh, who lived in New Haven, Connecticut.[7] Whether he was actually meaning to go to New Haven is unknown but in the next year he turns up living and working at a United States Marine Hospital in Manhattan, New York City.[8]

Neary’s parents were William Neary Sr. and Mary Cody (Coady on some documents).[9] William Jr. had at least four brothers and sisters: Catherine, John, James and Margaret.[10] Neary and Cody were married in mid 1898[11] with William Sr. having also been born in Kilkenny City[12], most likely in 1873[13]. Mary Cody and her father were also born in Kilkenny City.[14]

[1] The National Archives of Ireland, 1901 Census of Ireland, County Kilkenny, DED Kilkenny Urban, Townland/Street Kennyswell Street, Form A, Number on Form B 1 (stamped),house 30, William Neary; digitial image, The National Archives of Ireland, http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000926560/ : accessed 12 May 2011; original manuscript not cited.

[3] The National Archives of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, County Kilkenny, DED Paulstown, Townland/Street Kilmacahill, Form A, Number on Form B 1 (stamped),house 7, William Neary; digitial image, The National Archives of Ireland, http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002638171/ : accessed 12 May 2011; original manuscript not cited.

[4] “New York Passenger Lists 1820-1957”, database, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com: accessed 12 May 2011), entry for William Neary, age 22, arrived New York, New York, 2 April 1929 aboard the Baltic

[5] Doherty, Richard. 2002. Irish Volunteers in the Second World War. Dublin: Four Courts Press. p.340. Story told to author in interview with Ed Brett of New Jersey, USA.

[8] Ancestry.com, 1930 US Census, New York County, New York, population schedule, City of New York Borough of Manhattan, 34th Election District, 1st Assembly District, Sheet x, No House number, No family number, William Neary; digital image, Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 12 May 2011; citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1545

[9] The National Archives of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, William Neary: accessed 12 May 2011

[10] The National Archives of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, William Neary: accessed 12 May 2011

[14] The National Archives of Ireland, 1901 Census of Ireland, William Neary: accessed 12 May 2011

[15] The National Archives of Ireland, 1901 Census of Ireland, William Neary: accessed 12 May 2011

[16] The National Archives of Ireland, 1901 Census of Ireland, County Kilkenny, DED Kilkenny Urban, Townland/Street Kennyswell Street, Form B1, No Number, house 30, Dwelling of James Cody; digitial image, The National Archives of Ireland, http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000926529/ : accessed 13 May 2011; original manuscript not cited.

[17] The National Archives of Ireland, 1901 Census of Ireland, William Neary: accessed 12 May 2011

[18] The National Archives of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, County Kilkenny, DED Kilkenny Urban, Townland/Street Kennyswell Street, Form B1, No Number, house 7, Dwelling of James Cody; digitial image, The National Archives of Ireland, http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000926529/ : accessed 13 May 2011; original manuscript not cited.

[19] The National Archives of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, William Neary: accessed 12 May 2011